We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Sorenson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

When I first started as a personal trainer I promised myself that I would never BS someone. If i didn’t know an answer, I would simply respond that I did not know but that I would find out. This method became HUGE for me as I started to lean into a specialty in postpartum training and women’s health. It led me to creating great relationships within the community of other professionals to lean on.

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I began my career in general fitness. When I got pregnant with my second child I discovered that there was a lot related to pregnancy/postpartum fitness that was very contradicting. I worked out regularly, felt like I was in good shape, but training while pregnant was difficult. Around 17 weeks pregnant I discovered I had an abdominal separation known as diastasis recti. All of the information i found on how to exercise with this was very contradicting and felt discouraging. After having my second child and trying to return to exercise postpartum, I knew that I wanted to know more. I became a certified personal trainer and started training women one on one. As I did so I became very fascinated with studying women’s bodies and women’s health. How to recover postpartum and how to heal from the common difficulties women experience postpartum. I worked with many women and used trial and error to help them heal. I will be forever grateful for those first clients of mine. This all taught me that postpartum exercise is an individualized thing. What works for one woman does not work for another. It all comes down to proper breath patterns and pressure management. Fast forward to 2024 I am a licensed Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist and work one on one with women inside of a medical office in Southern UT. I also train virtually, host workshops and competed in the Mrs Utah America Pageant to further my reach on this subject.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn my thought that within science there is one way to do things. In textbooks we have a plan and the plan should be able to be easily executed. In real life, each individual person is different. Each person has a different background, different daily movement patterns and therefore must be treated individually. This doesn’t always follow the text book method!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I think I would have gone into the same profession but even sooner. Going right into my specialty of core and pelvic floor. Spending less time in general fitness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ash-sorenson.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ash.sorenson/
• Twitter: @ashleysorenson0

Image Credits
Kay Photos, Whitney Faith Media